The Dream Catcher
by Keiko Oda II
Summary: "They told me that the stupid contraption catches dreams! Then why the heck did I get a living, breathing girl tied up to the window the next morning?" Remember that magic can come in many, unexpected forms. NatsumexMikan
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note_:_ Hey everyone! I'm Keiko Oda, a GAFFN writer from the earlier generation of the community! I won't keep this long so as we can cut to the chase, but if you have any questions or you just want to talk, then don't hesitate to PM me! I'll be glad to hear from all of you! Glad to be back!

Disclaimer: I own everything except the characters that belong to Higuchi Tachibana.

**The Dream Catcher**

By Keiko Oda (II)

When Sakura-sama's store closed down, Natsume was there to see it. The whole town had come, not really for the sour-faced, much too explosive storekeeper, Jii-chan (that was what everybody called him) but because Sakura's Little Shop of Curiosities had always been the pride and joy of the little town of Haruka, the tiniest, most miniscule prefecture of Hokkaido – and not to mention the farthest off from the nearest city, Abashiri.

Haruka was so small and so invisible, that one might believe that it was one of those mysterious, haunted villages that one would find himself wandering through the gates late at night and never coming out again. Truth be told, many have found themselves in the town, quite puzzled to have not read up such a town on any Japanese map, but that did not mean the townspeople were out of the ordinary, extra terrestrial, bloodsucking beasts. In fact, everybody in Haruka was boring – the people, the animals, and even the flowerbeds were dry and dreary. Everybody rose from their beds at 6:45, ate the same whole grain Honeynut cereal for breakfast, went to school or work at 7:30, shopped at the same supermarket, played at the same arcade, shampooed their dull little heads with Swansilk 2-in-1 shampoo and went to bed thinking "Oh, someday, I will be living the great, city life in the great city called the great Tokyo." Which was precisely why when the eldest resident of the town opened a shop of curiosities, the entire town, composed of only 535 inhabitants (including dogs, cats and wild bullfrogs) threw the smallest, but the loudest and merriest festival in the whole world.

Sakura's Little Shop of Curiosities was the quaintest and by far, the strangest little boutique one might've ever laid his eyes on. Its facade looked anything but queer, especially since it was sandwiched between Nogi's Wash & Wear and Shouda's 24/7 Mini-Mart. But when one went through the door and saw the wind-up white elephants and golden geese, the run-away bed, the upside-down wishing well and the flying pigs – to name a few, of course – there would honestly be no other words to describe what preposterous joy they would be feeling at the deepest crevices of their hearts. Sakura's Little Shop of Curiosities was wonderland, and everybody in the planet found out.

Those were the golden years of Haruka. And there were twenty-two of them. But even as the tourists and the celebrities piled up as quickly as rabbits multiplied, Jii-chan never spoke a word of his shop. He never accepted the extravagant offers of the investors that walked into his office with big, fat wads of yen. He never told anybody where he got all the magical creatures ("The Wardrobe to Narnia was from a dear friend, and that is all you will ever know!") and neither did he go on talk shows, radio programs and even advertisements. He simply sat nonchalantly by his lion-pawed desk, watching his customers play with the rainbow fishes and drink from the chocolate waterfall, telling them that they may play with the flying teacups and the green goblins, but they may never, ever take them home. And this went on for twenty-two years until the mayor of Haruka, Jiino, discovered that people were growing dissatisfied and leaving the town.

"Why can't you sell just one invisible panda, Sakura? Why can't you just sell one?"

"They are precious, Jiino-sama. Selling them would lower their dignity."

"You are going to get me bankrupt, Sakura!"

And in his anger, in the people's anger, Jii-chan was forced to close down the store. And Natsume Hyuuga was there to see it.

"Poor flying pigs," he murmured imperturbably. "I've always wanted one."

His best friend, Ruka, who was right beside him, burst into laughter. "You're kidding me, right?"

Natsume looked at him and raised an eyebrow. He grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bucket that he was holding and threw it at him. "Of course I am, dimwit. What kind of person would want to buy a dumb animal?"

"The whole world, my good man," replied Ruka, "Which is why the old man had to close down. He pissed everybody off!"

"Not surprised. He was foolin' everyone anyway."

The two boys climbed down from the rooftop that overlooked the town square and landed smoothly on the dumpsters. They skidded against the smooth metal canister and jumped onto their skateboards. "He's going to be interviewed by the press now. Do you want to watch?" asked Ruka.

"Sob over his fire-breathing dragons?" smirked Natsume. "I've watched him a time too many."

"It's past curfew," said Kaede Hyuuga, as she walked past Natsume's bedroom that night, bringing a hamper full of laundry into the washing room.

"I've been here since seven," replied Natsume, whose nose was buried under the pages of a manga. "Just like you said."

"I know when my son is home and when he isn't," came the muffled reply from the other room, "Even if you locked your door." At that moment, she appeared by his door, looking tired and angry.

Natsume sighed and put down his book. "Mom, it's 11 effing 30. The other kids at school get home by 4am. Seriously, if you just chilled out –

"Chilling out," interrupted his mother, "Is what I did before you came home last Friday drunk and smelling like...weed!" She half-whispered the latter, out of anger and frustration. "And don't say _effing _to me! Acting like you're above me and all!"

Natsume clenched his fists and held his tongue. Finally, he replied. "I don't want to talk."

"You never do, Natsume!" cried Kaede. "You need to help me to help you!"

Natsume scowled at her and turned away. "I don't need any help."

He did not look at his mother. He didn't want to see her cry. She had cried before him too many times, the first time was when his father left him, and she was kneeling down before the bastard, asking him to stay, not for love of his wife, but of their child. Her pleads were futile, and she cried even harder when she took a beating for it. Natsume watched all of this happen. And he did not want to relive the wretched memory again.

At that moment, he received a text message from Ruka.

_The guys and I are coming over to Sakura's to raid what's left of the store._

_You game?_

Natsume didn't bother replying. He knew where they were going to meet up. This town was so bloody small anyway, he thought. Things were always predictable. He threw on his hoodie, locked the door and climbed out of his window before he reached the corner of the street, climbed over the wire fence of the abandoned bungalow they christened _Manor _with some plywood and a whiteboard marker, entered the basement door and found Ruka and the rest of the boys from school waiting for him.

"Stop asking such useless questions," he said, pulling out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it before his lips. He lifted one of the many crates and picked up his gun. He slid it into his back pocket and puffed out the smoke from his mouth.

"You goddamn know well I am."

**To be continued.**

****Author's Note: Thoughts? Suggestions? Reviews are greatly appreciated! Hope you'll want more of The Dream Catcher! Expect an update or two within the week!


	2. Chapter 2

**The Dream Catcher**

By Keiko Oda (II)

Chapter 2

No one would have guessed that six boys were out on a midnight raid on that particular Sunday night. Everyone in town was too tired to suspect such a thing; they all retired early in their homes after the commotion by Sakura's shop. The neighbourhood had shut the windows and drawn the curtains, locked the doors and put out their cats and climbed into the comfort of their warm futons by the time Natsume, Ruka and the rest of their crew patrolled the narrow, quiet streets of Haruka.

They didn't bother hiding themselves between the alleys and side streets. After all, who would be there to catch them? The police? The town officers never moved a muscle – why bother, when anybody's too lazy to upset somebody else? Besides, even if there were a slim chance of an officer leaning against a lamp post, drinking an espresso and keeping an eye (literally one eye – the other would be asleep) on the street, Ruka would just have to bat his pretty-boy eyelashes and the man in uniform would melt. That's how Ruka always was - thought Natsume, disgusted – _charming. _

They walked five blocks and turned right at the last corner. A couple more blocks and they found themselves standing in front of Sakura's Shop of Curiosities – all bolted and chained up, with a large painted sign hanging on the picture window reading: Out of Business.

"You think Sakura-sama keeps hidden cameras or something?" asked one of the boys apprehensively.

"You chicken, Koko?" Natsume retorted. "What's the council goin' to do with us anyway? Supposing we do we get caught, you know – all they'll do is just put it in their little blue book, get shouted out for a good five minutes and we'll be free to go."

"The system here is trash," shrugged Ruka, "Not that we're complaining though. Hey, Natsume. Hand me the gun."

Natsume fished the gun out of his pocket and handed it to Ruka, who took the handle and harshly slammed it against the padlock. He locked the trigger in his finger and shot it twice until the chains collapsed.

"Aren't you scared that someone will hear you?" asked Kitsuneme.

"Kids," Natsume said, turning around and pulling the chains from behind. "If you didn't trust our work in the first place, then why the hell did you join our group? If you're too wimpy to witness us unlocking some goddamn padlocks, then please," he grabbed the gun from Ruka's hand and waved it at the group. "Get the fuck out of here or I'll blow your faces off."

Everyone fell silent.

Natsume and Ruka pulled the chains and tore off the wooden boards until the door was clear. When that was done, Natsume fished out his lighter from his pocket, pressed the casement switch and held it towards the knob. Ruka oiled the doorknob and stuck a pin through the lock. The door swung open.

"It would be easier to just blow down the door, my friends," Ruka grinned, arrogantly. "But we wouldn't want any more trouble. After all, we like neat work." He then picked up the chains and threw it at the rest of the boys. "Do us a favour and figure out how we'll put it back together when we've raided the place. Two of you," he pointed to Kokoroyomi and Kitsuneme. "Come inside and help us get the loot."

"What exactly are we raiding?" they asked, as Natsume handed them each their rubber gloves.

Natsume lifted a sack. "Anything that can fit inside this," he replied. "We'll sell them."

They stepped through the door.

Jii-chan woke with a start. A noise overhead had jolted him from sleep. As he switched on his lamp and sat up, he listened some more. He could hear footsteps –_ many_ of them – and loud heaving and hauling. Ah, he thought, they had arrived.

It was funny how nobody seemed to know that he lived just below the shop. He had moved into the basement a month after the shop had become famous. Jii-chan wasn't trusting of others, and his intuition was right. He expected this to happen. He expected it right after Jinno ordered him to close down the shop. He knew the raiders would arrive and steal his precious wonderland. That was what everyone was after, after all. Not the merriment or the magic – but the money. He listened some more. Voices.

He lay back down in bed and smiled listlessly. He wondered if they had stolen the pink elephants or the twelve-legged spider. He thought about his ceramic birds and the runaway chairs. Were they fighting back? He thought. Either way, he hoped they kept the Dream Catcher. He grinned in satisfaction and fell back to sleep. Oh, what a surprise if they did.

"Put them all in," Natsume held open the sack, and Koko dropped all the white and pink elephants in. They squealed in objection and pushed and kicked against the walls of the sack. By the time they had figured a way to climb out, Natsume tied the sack and secured it with metal string. He threw it over his back, unmoved by their cries. "Did you get the silver fish and the jewelled turtles?"

"I did," replied Ruka. A car had pulled over and they began dumping the sacks in the trunk. "We can't get any of the stupid furniture though. They keep running away or disappearing. Couldn't even get the dumbass invisible pandas."

"Leave them," said Natsume. "We don't want the town to get too suspicious when they open this hole up. Anyway, we've got enough to make 500 grand each." He grabbed a handful of pocket-sized flamingos and stuffed them into a jar. "Make that 800 grand."

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's almost two o' clock," Replied one of the boys. "We better start going."

"Ready the bolts, the chains and the other shit that they locked this place up with. Take the car to my house and we'll carry the junk to my basement."

"When are we going to sell them?"

"There's no time to think about tha. Let's just get this place locked up. Another spare minute in this joint and the town will wake up."

They were almost done packing when something caught Natsume's eye. Hanging on a peg on top of the doorframe was the strangest looking curiosity he had ever seen. It was a circular frame made of bright green bamboo with a string of gold and red feathers hanging from the bottom. The frame held in a shiny, gossamer net that glistened in the darkness. Natsume was about to reach for it when the alarm of a distant siren began to sound. The gunshot had been reported.

"Shit," Natsume cursed and urgently signalled the group to clear out. "Looks like the bastards are awake after all."

They began clearing out and filing into the car as quickly as they could. "What about the chains –

"Shut up!" yelled Natsume, who returned to reaching out for the object. "Just this one –

"Natsume!" called Ruka, his voice sounded alarmed. "It's getting nearer! Get in the car already!"

"_PUT YOUR HANDS UP. This is the police!" _came a voice over a megaphone. Natsume quickly pulled the object off its peg and slipped it under his jacket. He rushed out the door, only to find two police cars waiting for him. _Where the fuck is Ruka_? His voice rang through his brain like the heavy din of a funeral bell. It was only until he was snatched by the collar, held face-down on the trunk and fastened to a pair of handcuffs when he realized that he had been abandoned.

"House arrest? I'm under fucking house arrest?"

His voice echoed through the narrow, dark hall of the interrogation room. It was nearing dawn, and Natsume was dead tired. His mother sat with him, looking down at her feet. She had not said a word to him since they called her into the office an hour ago.

"Until further investigation is completed," replied the officer before them. "How old are you again? Eighteen? Nineteen?"

"Seventeen," said Natsume darkly. "Jeez, I don't know why the hell you guys are only acting on me now! These shop raids have been going on for years and you douchebags only decide to –

"Natsume," interrupted his mother calmly. "Your tone. Your words. Quiet."

"Exactly," continued the officer. "What the committee – what the _council _has decided was to put you under house arrest. You are to remain in your house with this nice bracelet attached to you," he picked up a metal bracelet off his desk and waved it at Natsume, "Until we are able to complete the legal work and the verdict appropriate to your crime."

"The hell, man. I'm not a common criminal. Jeez, I'm just trying to get money circulating around this hell hole you losers call a _town_"

"The law is the law," bellowed the officer – his name was Officer Beckett – a tall, robust, blonde man. Natsume didn't even bother to think how this American type found his way to the hidden depths of their hidden town. "Now, we're doing you a favour, young man. A juvenile like you –

"I'll be eighteen in a month."

"Even more reason to be afraid," came the bright reply. "They're less lenient with official adults. Or have you not been reading your Politics and Government homework?"

"He's a straight A-student," interjected Natsume's mother dejectedly.

Officer Beckett didn't say anything else. He took Natsume's arm and fastened the bracelet onto his wrist. "Try to remove that and we'll have Interpol on your heels, sir."

"Ha. Ha," Natsume feigned and lifted his arm to take a better look at it. The bracelet was so tightly secured to his wrist that it would be close to impossible to removing it.

"Your schoolwork will be completed at home and you will have 1-hour of community service everyday – accompanied by the police, of course," continued Officer Beckett. "So you'll get to breathe some fresh air once every, you know, seven days." He opened the door to the hallway wide and beckoned them to leave.

As Natsume got up, he remembered Ruka and the others."What about my friends? The guys who were with me," Natsume asked.

"Same goes for them," Officer Beckett responded and walked the mother and the son out of the office. Natsume was greeted in the hallway by a dozen more families waiting by the lobby of the police station. He recognized Ruka's parents in the crowd. In that minute, he saw Ruka being brought in by the police. He had a black eye and a bleeding lip. Natsume grabbed his shoulders. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Got into a brawl. Listen, Natsume," Ruka said, giving a weak smile, "Don't feel too bad about this. I mean, things are -

They were interrupted by the group of policemen escorting Ruka. "Move it. There's no time to talk." They pushed Natsume aside and pulled Ruka into the interrogation room, where his parents quickly scuttled in, embarrassed.

But Natsume knew his best friend. He knew him so well that he could finish off his sentences. And he knew that Ruka was going to say that things were finally going to get interesting in the small town of Haruka.

**To be continued**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N** – Admittedly the previous chapter was quite rushed. I wrote it in a span of thirty minutes, as I was just about to leave for an event. I'm working on fixing its errors. I promise you that this chapter will be much better! Enjoy!

**The Dream Catcher**

By Keiko Oda (II)

Chapter III

A week had passed since the frenzied episode with the police, and Natsume could not remember any other period in his life that had been more hectic. Right after his interrogation with Officer Beckett, Natsume had to report back to the police station to fill up several forms, complete bundles of paperwork and stand in front of a pasty white, carefully measured backdrop, hold up a board with his name and a cluster of ominous numbers plastered on it and have his photo taken. He hardly got a wink of sleep, because his mother would wake him up unbelievably early to do house chores: do the laundry, wash the dishes, scrape off the grit from the drains. Natsume suspected that his mother developed a grudge against him. But to Kaede, this was tough love, and the bitterest of the sort.

She could not understand the person that her son had become. She tried pinpointing it on her divorce with his father, but Natsume was never close to him anyway, and he insisted that she was much better off flying solo. He was artistic and intelligent, and was always an achiever; a consistent A-student – reserved and quiet in class, but was fondly spoken of: "Natsume was the only student in class who perfected the Chemistry test," or "Natsume won the blue ribbon at the art fair," and the occasional "I believe that Natsume just might be the valedictorian of his batch! "He has an entire future going for him," remarked the school principal in one of the PTAs. But Kaede remembered that the last time she heard such praise was three years ago. He was still an honour student, yes, but seventeen-year-old Natsume was much different.

She told herself that it was a phase, an "adolescent attitude" that would die down as the boy matured. But she never realized that her son had grown so distant, so reclusive, that when she found a pack of cigarettes and a pack of funky-smelling powder under his bed, she realized that she underestimated the condition of her son. Kaede brought him to several psychiatrists and physicians, only to discover even more terrible nightmares. "You might want to check his arms and legs," they told her, "Inflicting pain upon oneself is a sign of a serious case of depression." From that day on, she placed her son under the pill, in the hope, along with regular therapy, it would cure him. She tried lovingly coaxing him out of his shell, being active in his events and activities, encouraging him to spend time with her. But the night with the police drew the line, and she was at her wit's end. Nothing was working.

As she watched him drag himself out of bed, muttering curses under his breath as he scratched the thick layer of scars on his shoulders, she sighed and thought: "Oh Natsume-kun, what has become of you?"

"I'm a big fish in a small pond," he would tell the doctors. As Kaede pondered over this, she thought that maybe he was right.

XXXX

"Please turn that off," Kaede said, "You need to do the laundry, remember?"

Natsume sighed and put aside his laptop. "I already scrubbed the shit off the toilet, ma. Can't you give me a break?"

"A break," his mother began, picking up the clothes hamper and pouring its contents into a basket, "Would mean abstaining from anything that might encourage you from your _despicable _lifestyle."

"So Facebook and Twitter are spawns of Satan? Jeez," he retorted, and held out his arms. "The basket, your highness."

Kaede's lips trembled and handed him the basket "Natsume-kun, I'm just trying to help you."

Natsume scoffed and smiled. "Too late for that."

He walked into the laundry room and dumped the basket on the wicker chair next to the dryer. He leaned over the washing machine, switched it on, set the temperature to 90 degrees and affixed the time to half an hour. He was about the pour his clothes in when he remembered the time that his white shirt turned pink. "Damn it. Didn't sort through them yet." He sat on the floor and pulled the basket down to his lap and began arranging the darks from the lights.

He was almost done sorting through the pile when he found, in the jacket that he wore last week, the strange object that he had stolen from Sakura's shop. He wondered why the police hadn't found it when they searched his pockets. Then again, the object was so light and delicate, that anybody could have missed it. He held it up in the sunlight and stared at it: pale, bamboo frame, gossamer netting (with a strange woven pattern) and beaded feathers dangling like wisps of golden hair. What was this contraption anyway? And why was it in the curiosity shop? It just looked like some girly decoration – hardly anything remarkable compared to all the magical beasts and animate furniture running around the whole place. He shrugged and put it aside. He had delayed too much thinking about the peculiar object. It was time to clean some dirty clothes.

"A dream catcher." It was his mother.

"What?" Natsume said, not bothering to look at her.

"I had one just like this before!" she said, and she picked up the object. "My dad bought it from America."

"Cool story," Natsume replied dryly. "I don't really care."

Kaede didn't seem to listen to him. "You hang it against your window," she said dreamily, "And at night, the good dreams that fly in, pass through net and into your soul and the bad dreams – the nightmares, get stuck and burn in the sunlight when dawn breaks."

Natsume looked at his mother and rolled his eyes. "Okay, _mom_," was all he said.

"Oh, Natsume! You should hang it on your window! You can have the greatest of dreams!" She was dancing around the laundry room now.

Natsume feigned a laugh, stuffed a bundle of clothes in the washing machine and walked out of the room. "I've stopped dreaming, mom." He murmured, so softly that nobody could have heard it.

XXXX

That Sunday, Natsume and Ruka were driven to the Haruka post office for their first day of community service: sorting out mail and shredding heaps of old documents in a tiny, crowded room for six hours.

"I had no idea mail actually gets around this place," Ruka remarked, after an hour of silence amongst the stacks of envelopes. "This town actually _communicates_?"

"Everything looks like junk and bills to me," said Natsume, who wasn't doing anything in particular besides licking several postage stamps and sticking them under the table.

"Not really," said Ruka, "It looks like Tobita-san is going to college." He fished out an envelope from the pile and waved it. "Tokyo State University. No shit, man."

"The hell, man," Natsume said, grabbing the letter and tearing it open. "That bastard isn't even that smart!"

"He works hard," shrugged Ruka. "Hey, just cause he's not a straight-A student like you."

Natsume fell silent.

Ruka grinned. "What? Are you like, full of regret now?"

Natsume chucked the envelope at Ruka. "Seal that up or we might get arrested for...violating private property or whatever shit they might throw at us again."

"Hey man, you can always apply to college if you want. With your grades –

"Do you think they'll allow a criminal like me into a top university?" Natsume hissed. "God, why the hell is everyone chucking me with dreams and fluff and all that crap? You sound like my mom."

Ruka raised an eyebrow.

"I found this 'dream catcher' in my jacket. It's something I took from the shop. Don't ask me why, it looked pretty neat. My mom says it gives the greatest dreams, blah. Forget I ever mentioned it."

"Oh, a dream catcher," Ruka said, "Is that the one with the beads and the feathers and the net?"

Natsume nodded.

"Damn, my cousin had one of those. She said it was invented by some tribe back in the 60s or something. Anyway, it's supposed to be like some spider web. The good dreams pass through and the nightmares –

"They burn, yeah. That's what my mom said. Anyway, maybe I can sell it or something."

"Don't!" Ruka exclaimed. "I mean, they sell dream catchers everywhere for like, ten cents apiece. Don't you think if this one was in like, Sakura-san's shop, it has some kind of power?"

"Very funny, stupid," Natsume said, as he flicked through the envelopes. "What are you, some wizard of dreams and hopes now?"

"It's worth a try. I mean, God – this place is so effing boring. Give it a shot."

Natsume didn't say anything.

"Look, if this thing is super magical or something – then you can sell it for a million bucks!" Ruka pressed.

"Right. So I'll waltz into the market and say '_Hey guys, I'm selling this for a million bucks so you can dream of ponies and unicorns while the bad guys burnnnnnn!_'"

"You have nothing to lose."

XXXX

The officers picked the boys up by sunset, inspected the place and drove them back to their homes. Tired and hungry, Natsume couldn't wait to unwind and relax in the warm sheets of his futon. He was just about to enter his bedroom when Kaede called him to the dining room where an unexpected visitor was waiting for him.

"Sakura-sama?" Natsume said, feeling more ashamed than surprise.

The old man smiled at him and sipped his cup of tea. "How are you, Natsume-kun?"

"Why are you here?"

"Natsume!" protested Kaede, "I'm so sorry, Sakura-sama. My son is –

"Please do not apologize, Hyuuga-san. I just want to speak to your son. You may go."

Kaede nodded and left the room

Sakura-sama turned to Natsume. "Have a seat."

"You don't need to tell me that, _sir,_" Natsume replied, "This is my house."

"Aren't you the rebellious one?" Sakura-sama laughed, "Was it that mouth of yours that got the rest of your friends in trouble too?"

"Don't bring up –

"I'm not here to taunt you, Natsume. I just want to ask if you if you got the dream catcher."

Instinct. "No."

"So you didn't? Because we were doing an inventory of the missing goods – the dream catcher being one of them – and we were able to obtain everything else but that."

"I didn't get it."

"Are you sure?"

"What the hell would I have to do with a stupid dream catcher?"

"Catch dreams. Or sell it. If I were you, I'd pick the former. It would have a much more interesting turn-out. Better than fifty-million yen."

"Is that how much it's worth?"

"Oh, even more!"

Natsume was about to ask him more questions, but he figured it would give himself away. He remained silent.

"Listen, Natsume. I know you're lying."

"What?"

Sakura-sama stretched out his bony arms and smiled. "People like you always lie. You lie to your mother, your best friend, to me, even to yourself. Natsume – that's why you brought home the dream catcher. Because in that little head of yours, you've wracked and messed up who you are and what you want to be. Ah, I remember that fairy tale – was it Cinderella? Yes, a dream –

"You're saying I'm on a road to self-discovery," Natsume cut him off, entertained.

"They told me you were a smart boy."

"Who?"

"The white elephants."

"You're insane," said Natsume. "Get out of my house."

"I will, Natsume," said Sakura-sama, getting up from his seat. "Actually, I cannot wait to find out what the dream catcher has in store for you."

"You're not going to ask for it?" muttered Natsume.

"Why would I? You need it more than I do," grinned the old man, showing a crooked row of yellowish teeth. He slid open the door, found Kaede in the kitchen, bade farewell and disappeared.

"What did he tell you?" asked his mother.

Natsume shrugged. "That a dream is a wish your heart makes."

XXXX

As Natsume lay in bed that night, he thought about the dream catcher. He thought about what his mother, what Ruka and what Sakura-sama had told him. He did not know exactly whom to listen to, because his thoughts came in a tangled jumble in his mind. One thing was absolutely clear though: He had to hang it by his window and see what would happen.

He leaned over to check his bedside clock and saw that it was 2:43 AM. Why wasn't he tired yet? His mind raced and his legs squirmed. He tossed and turned, cursed himself and the aching feeling inside of him. "Maybe that's why they called the old man's junkshop a curiosity shop," he said, under his breath, "You end up so goddamn curious."

He stood up, unlocked his door and walked over to the laundry room. He switched on the lights and saw that his mother had left the dream catcher on the wicker chair. He picked it up and looked at it. It seemed smaller and more ordinary than it did the last time he looked at it. He rolled his eyes. "I'm so stupid."

He took the dream catcher back to his room and affixed it to the knob of his window. He looked it and waited. He waited some more. Thirty seconds past. "Shazam!" he said. And there was nothing.

"Those idiots," he grunted, "Working me up with some childhood fantasy. Bastards."

He climbed into bed again, but this time, he didn't lie down. He sat up, against the wall and stared at the dream catcher. It glistened in the darkness.

A bit of him hoped that something magical would appear. "Come on, a fairy! A gnome! Anything! Jesus. Even an annoying mini elephant!"

Suddenly, he became unusually tired. His body quivered like jelly and sunk back onto the bed. He felt his eyelids droop like soft, heavy curtains shutting the world out. He was so unbelievably sleepy. It was only a few minutes until he fell into a long, deep, absolutely _dreamless_ slumber.

In the morning, when he woke, he stared at the ceiling, where the orangey ray of the first sunlight spilled out in delicate glitters. He swore that he did not dream of anything at all and in fact, if it weren't for the sound of breaking glass and a heavy metal din sounding right before he dozed off, his entire night would've been left undisturbed.

He sat up, scratched his eyes and looked right in front of him.

There, sitting in the middle of a thousand pieces of broken glass, caught and tangled in between the knots of a silvery, gossamer net, half asleep in a pool of sweat and blood, was a girl with long, sand-coloured hair and sun-kissed, olive skin.

After Natsume screamed the loudest scream ever to be heard in the miniscule town of Haruka, and after the girl had done the same, he realized that she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his whole life.

**To be continued.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N** - Thank you so much for your reviews! I'll reply to them personally when I have the time. Enjoy this chapter!

**The Dream Catcher**

By Keiko Oda (II)

Chapter 4

He couldn't believe his eyes. Lying across his bed, sprawled on the floor in a pool of broken glass and blood, was a girl he had never seen before. Her long, sand-coloured hair was tangled in damp, sweaty tendrils and her skin glistened with perspiration and blood. She was awake, her bright, hazel eyes stared at Natsume with a mix of agony, fear and surprise. She wore nothing but a torn-up, canvas tunic that hung limply up to her thighs, which were covered in cuts and bruises. To Natsume, the most outrageous part of it all were her arms and legs, which were tied up in a shimmering, ethereal entanglement of what looked like a thickened enlargement of the dream catcher's netting.

Before he could move a muscle, there was an urgent knock on the door. "Natsume-kun?" cried out Kaede. "Open up! Are you alright?"

"Yes!" shouted Natsume, his voice breaking in distress, "It was just a nightmare, ma!"

"I thought I heard a crash – Natsume, please!"

"Ma, it's fine. D-don't worry! You can go! I'll be downstairs in a bit!"

When he was sure that Kaede had left, he got up from bed and stared at the girl, who was so complicatedly twisted in the net that she lay in the most contorted position. She breathed heavily like a dying fish.

"Who – who _are _you?" asked Natsume softly.

The girl didn't reply. She limply lifted an arm, showing Natsume how deeply the net had hacked through her skin.

"I repeat," he said, "Who _the hell_ are you?" He spoke so softly that he could hardly hear himself.

Still, she didn't speak. Natsume figured that for as long as she was caught in that trap, she wouldn't utter a word. He walked over to his desk drawer and fished out a pair of scissors. He knelt over the net and began cutting through the tangles. The material was stiffer than he expected, and he had to grab a second, bigger pair to complete the task. When he lifted the net, he saw the girl wince at the pain of her wounds. She had so many, and she bled so profusely that Natsume decided to call his mother. But as he was about to leave the door, she objected.

"Don't. It's only temporary," she said. Her voice was like that of a high-pitched songbird's.

"The hell, how can those be temporary?" He pointed to the cuts and gashes. For a minute he had forgotten the peculiarity of the situation.

"I mean, it's nothing serious." Her skin was red and raw. "I just need to sleep."

"Right. Sleep. By that time, you'll be dead."

She lifted herself from the floor and dragged herself to Natsume's bed. She collapsed onto the futon and fell into a deep sleep. In that moment, Natsume's mother entered the door. Her scream pulsated through every house in the neighbourhood.

"Oh my GOD." She shrieked, over and over. "Oh my God. Oh my God. OH MY. NATSUME. WHAT IN HOLY HEAVENS DID YOU DO?" She ran out the door and collapsed halfway through the corridor. Natsume urgently ran after her. Her face was pale. "Who. Was. That. Bloodied. Up. What. What happened." She heaved.

"Mom, I don't know what the hell is happening either," he responded. "I woke up, and she was there. And what the f-fuck happened is a goddamn mystery!"

"Did you hurt her?" she muttered, faintly.

He crouched next to his mother. "Trust me, ma. I didn't! I don't even know who the hell she is! I have never seen her before! It's that stupid...dream...catcher." His final words slurred out like sticky liquid, and, as if everything suddenly he murmured under his breath, "Sakura...sama..."

"That bastard."

XXXX

He had been expecting him for awhile. It was only a matter of time before the rebellious teenage boy would come running to him. Surprised? But of course. Angry? It was a given. Sakura-sama pondered as he sat down by his breakfast table, his fingers tapping against the hardwood. He sipped his chamomile tea and wondered what became of the dream catcher.

He was about to pick up the morning paper when he heard heavy thumps overhead. A sly smile quivered across his face as he got up from his cushion, dried his hands and ambled towards the narrow staircase that spiralled up to the shop. As expected, he found Natsume there, furiously pacing back and forth. "Sakura-sama!" he exclaimed, once he caught sight of the old man. "I've been looking all over the goddamn town for you!"

Sakura-sama nodded, watching the panic-stricken boy precariously walk towards him. "They told me that the stupid contraption catches dreams! Then why the heck did I get a living, breathing girl, tied up to the window the next friggin morning?"

"A girl!" said Sakura-sama brightly. "A girl, a girl, a girl."

"You know, old man, I was sort of expecting to dream of flying monkeys or golden camels and all that crazy shit of yours but NO. I get up, and I find this bleeding chick lying on my bedroom floor. And she's all – (he clears his throat and talks in an unusually high-pitched tune) _I'll be alright, I just need to sleep! _Then she just frikking crawls onto my bed – mind you, she's like spilling her fucking blood gunk EVERYWHERE, falls asleep and yeah, mom freaks. So can you please explain what the hell is going on?"

Sakura-sama walks over to his invisible armchair and sits down. "Oh, well – something that is perfectly normal, of course."

"The old geezer has definitely lost it!" Natsume declared, after a pause, and began applauding sarcastically.

"No, Natsume-kun," Sakura-sama began, "I'm absolutely serious. The dream catcher – its name is self-explanatory. It catches dreams. _Your _dreams. And the girl, well, she is nothing but a dream."

Natsume took a deep breath. "Right. So, I'm dreaming. And I'm going to go back home and realize that the chick doesn't exist and this was just one, big joke of yours."

"Oh, of course not!" Sakura-sama grinned. "She'll stay. That's how dreams are."

"No, grandpa. The world I come from – you know, where people aren't crazy like you – dreams disappear. You wake up and bam, they're gone. So if you said this girl is a dream, then she's not real. She's like, a mirage! A ghost! A figment of my imagination!"

Sakura-sama stretched out his legs."Natsume, dreams are realer than realness. Yes, they do come from our imaginations, our subconscious, the deepest crevices of our hearts, but they exist and are concrete as blood and water. They exist in a different dimension – that is, the _world of dreams. _Now, the dream catcher is a medium between our two worlds, and it catches them. It catches them so we can make our dreams real."

"Okay, man. I lost you there. Whatever. Anyway, how the hell do I get rid of her?"

"The girl?"

"Yes! The girl! By now, she would've bled the fucking Niagra falls out of my room!"

"You can't get rid of her."

"What?" hissed Natsume.

"You can drive her to the next city and throw her into a hole, and she'll still appear right next to you the very next day!"

"This is some bitchy sorcery, isn't it?"

"She's your dream, Natsume. And unless you stop wanting her, she will never go away."

"I never wanted her! Hell, I never even wanted a girlfriend!"

Sakura-sama laughed. "Well, maybe she's here for another purpose."

Natsume was about to speak when he heard a rapping on the door. It was Officer Beckett.

XXXX

"A week into house arrest and you're already walking the streets like you own the place," Officer Beckett said, as he dropped Natsume off at his house. "You're worse than I expected, kid."

"It was an emergency," repeated Natsume for the nth time.

"I don't care what kind of emergency it is. You see this band?" He grabbed Natsume's arm and lifted it for him to see. "This means you're a criminal. Until your trial, that is."

Natsume sneered, pulled away and tucked his arm underneath his jacket. He opened the car door and headed for the driveway of his house. He felt Officer Beckett's eyes bury into his back as he swung open the door and shut it behind him. He sighed in relief. This is too much stress for a guy like me, he thought. He kicked off his shoes and walked over to the kitchen to grab breakfast. He found the girl sitting by the table, looking expectantly at him.

"What the –

"Your mom. She's asleep. But she'll be alright. Just shaken up, a bit, you know?"

"Yeah, your arrival kinda shocked the life out of her," Natsume shrugged. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you," she smiled. Natsume raised an eyebrow. She had a nice grin.

He went over to the refrigerator, snatched the bottle of milk and gulped half of it down. He knew the girl was watching him. He put the bottle down on the counter and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He sighed and turned to her. All of her wounds were gone. Her skin was flawless.

"You know, kid, last time I checked, you looked pretty much beaten up," he said.

"I heal when I sleep," came the reply.

"Ah," Natsume nodded. "Magic stuff. Anyway, I'm going to bed."

"Okay!" said the girl brightly. "I'll go with you!"

Natsume stopped walking and spun to look at her. She was staring so closely at his face that he almost jumped. "Jeez, kid. I don't know what your job exactly is, but stay out of my sight!"

"I can't do that," she replied. "Dreams belong with dreamers."

"Every-fucking-body is talking to me in metaphors," Natsume said between his teeth. "Okay, look. I never wanted you. Alright? I don't know, maybe there was a mismatch in assignments in the whole dream community or shit, but you don't belong with me. In fact, I hardly dream at all! So why don't you like, go through the net again, and disappear forever? Maybe the Chief of Dreams can assign you to another guy. But you definitely got the wrong one."

"Nope. Natsume Hyuuga. Height is 5"10, Weight is 146 pounds. Born on November 27, zodiac sign is Sagittarius. Blood type B. Favourite colour is red and loves honey-glazed ribs with pineapple sauce AND baked potatoes." She recited this so quickly that Natsume could hardly follow.

"You are one creepy woman," was all he said. And he slammed the door at her face.

He walked as quickly as he could, up the stairs, through the corridor and into his room. He locked the door, drew the curtains and collapsed onto his bed, which was surprisingly – softer and cleaner than it normally was. Silence. He closed his eyes.

He was about to drift to sleep when he felt something tickle his nose. When his eyelids fluttered open, he saw that the girl was crouched right on top him.

"What the hell!" He shouted, and crawled out of bed. "Jesus Christ, will you PLEASE get away from me?"

"I can't!" she had this habit of speaking so rapidly, "It's like magnetism, you know? Wherever you go, I go! For as long as you want me –

"I DON'T WANT YOU." Natsume shouted. "Give me some space."

"Don't you even want to know my name?" the girl asked softly.

"If you tell me your name, will you PLEASE shut up?" He closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them, she would have disappeared. He opened them again. She was still there.

"Mikan," she said, "My name is Mikan."

XXXX

"I think Mikan is a wonderful name," said Kaede, as she handed Natsume her plate after dinner that night. She turned to Mikan, who had appeared in a yellow, floral sundress. "Mikan-chan, are you sure you don't need anything for the night?"

Mikan twirled around. "Everything is fine, Hyuuga-sama. The guest bedroom is perfect."

Natsume remained silent. He could not understand how his mother forgot everything that happened that morning. When she awoke later that afternoon, she kept yapping about how Mikan was welcome to stay, and that "the poor girl needs a roof over her head, don't you think? Now, now, Natsume! Don't complain! We must be hospitable to our guests!" Natsume figured that Mikan had put a spell on her or something, and as he washed the dishes that night, he found out that she was right.

"So you can toy with people's consciences, huh?" He said, his arms half-deep in dishwashing soap. "Wait till ma finds out. She'll have you beheaded."

"Oh, Hyuuga-sama is such a nice host," Mikan said, as she sat down on the kitchen counter and swung her legs to and fro. "I'm staying in your room though."

"Just a minute there," Natsume said, "You are not staying in my room. We agreed you'd stay in the guest room. For tonight, at least. Tomorrow you'll be gone and I can go back to my happy life again!"

"Oh, Natsume-kun," said Mikan, ignoring him as he muttered "Don't call me that!" "You aren't happy. That's why I'm here."

"Right. And you know me well because...?"

"Because I'm your dream. I know everything about you. You and me – we're one and the same, you know."

Natsume put a stop to his chore and looked at her in disbelief. "I highly doubt that a crazy freak like you and someone like me, are identical."

Mikan shrugged and yawned. "Are we going to bed now?"

Silence.

"Natsume?"

Mikan turned to him and saw that he had sat down on the floor with his face buried in his arms. His arms were dripping with dishwater.

"Natsume-kun? Are you alright?"

He grunted. "This is too much for me to take in."

"Well –

He sat up and tossed the dishwashing towel aside. "Hey, dream. Would you mind finishing up in here? I'm beat."

"I don't know how –

"What do you mean you don't know how? If you and I are one and the same, then you should very well know how to wash goddamn plates!"

She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. In that moment, he grabbed her by the collar and stared her down. "Listen," his tone was more depressive than angry, "These past two weeks have been really shitty for me. I got arrested, I got _sentenced, _and who knows – maybe I'll be convicted after my birthday! You can imagine that meeting this clingy, uncontrollable, goddamn talkative _dream _of mine is the cherry on top of my happy sundae! I can't even get rid of you!" With those last words, he dropped her and walked out the door, not bothering to check whether she got hurt or not.

When he got to the room, he was not surprised to see her there. "I'm sorry," she said. "I told you –

"Magnetism, right" He sighed, exasperated. "Just don't bother me." He slid into his bed and closed his eyes.

"Natsume?"

He did not reply. He did not want to talk anymore.

"I'm just trying to help you, Natsume."

He took a deep breath. "Everybody has tried that, little girl."

He paused. Then he breathed again. "It never worked."

**To be continued. **


End file.
